EMAIL #4 22 January 2007

Its a home alone day Merins at work and I am doing the house work lol , I have studied the human anatomy this morning and have had my lunch , a ham and cheese bagel with horse radish and Brussel sprouts and now I am about to start reading a "How to make LOTSA money" book.

Its been snowing all day today. I looked out the window today and saw three big black crows eating a squirrel that had died and had been covered by the snow. Watching them pecking at the little squirrel was quite disturbing so I stopped looking left them to their lunch and I continued to eat my own.

The cold Isn't that bad now even though its been in the low negative for the past week, This weekend Merin and I went out to Free Port ( a little town about 30 mins out of Portland and dedicated to outlet stores ) to get the essential Maine survival items. I drove on the highway for the very first time, I am slowly getting used to driving here and I am pulling out on to the left side of the road much less now. At Free Port I brought some really nice North Face Boots a woolly hat and some beautiful gloves now I am a true Mainer. Discount stores here are truly that, My boots were $250 regular price and we picked them up for only $49 ! , Ows that for a bargain mate lol .

We are sending in our final papers for my immigration this week and now the real wait begins, It could take up to 90 days for my work visa to be processed and yes that's correct it means it could be 90 days till I am legally allowed to work in the U.S.A. . On the positive side I have found a builder who is willing to give me "undercover work" sanding and painting general odd bods jobs. So its good I will get out more meet more people and in the end of those positive get a little bit of cash to play with.

Till Next Time

Mike

Mikes Travel Email #1

Hidy-ho campers!

I arrived in New York battered and weathered. My bags were heavy and I was feeling the pinch. When I first picked up my bags I noticed that there were different people in New York. Scary people. There were 2 types of scary people... the first type was the gansta (black, tall, black leather jackets with furry hoods and gansta caps). A few of them were looking at me like I was their next meal. The next type was the military men. Four strong wearing full marine uniforms with AK-47 assault rifle. I don't know what scared me more, the AK-47 or the juvenile that was weilding it. He thought it was funny to make fun at the foreigners and laugh at them (the foreigners being ME). I thought I'd stand up and give him a slap, but when I stood up I rememberd he had a gun.

It was now time for me to find my way to the showers. After being told that I could go to the lounge for a shower I checked my bag for a total price of $32 American dollars (Which I thought was fantastic because I had a whole 7 hours to fill before my connecting flight to Boston). After trudging through the gangstas and the military men, I found myself in the Virgin lounge, where I asked, "G'day mate, do you guys have showers up in here?" To which the helpful attendent replied, "Sorry sir, there are no showers in this facility". I then asked, "Are there any showers in this entire airport?" Which she then replied, "Sorry sir, there are no showers in this facility". I walked out of that room with no shower, stinky underarms, and sweaty undies. I headed back to my 24-hour luggage holding area that had held my luggage for a total of 30min (so if you add it up, I basically paid $1 per minute that my luggage was there). Because I didn't want to pay another $3 for another luggage cart, I strapped my big booty bags onto my frail, tired, weathered body (70kgs in total) and I trapsed onward to the terminal line train. I waited for 7 hours total in the departure lounge for my connecting flight to Boston. At the end of this flight I was to finally see my Merin. While I was sitting there, a young gezer walked past me with a NZ t-shirt on. We struck up a conversation, and I found out that he was traveling to do some snowboarding. His name was Mike (coincidentaly) and we hit it off.

When I got off the plane, knowing that I was still smelly, my undies were still stinky, and that my girlfriend (whom I hadn't seen in 5 months) was about to hug me.... I ran to the toilet and freshened myself up a bit with the shower in the can :)

I walked around the corner and saw there were a few people waiting through double doors. I had no idea where to go, so I quickened my step to catch up with the guy Mike that I had been traveling with. All of a sudden I noticed my girlfriend Merin. She rushed up towards me and gave me the biggest hug. It was fantastic. I was home away from home. We finally got out of the airport and we got on the road. On went our favorite musical and we sang RENT all the way to our lovely home on Avalon Rd. My first impression of our street was scary. I thought it was a street from a horror movie (kind of like House 2), but when Merin finally stopped the car and we got out, it was a cute little house with greeting posters stuck to the outside from Merin's friends. When we opened the door the house was filled with balloons and welcome stickers. I was so happy.

The next day, we woke up after 4 hours of sleep (at 9am). Merin then took me on a tour of Portland. I felt buzzy the whole time. Everything I expected was NOT here. America is not a scary place - and Portland is so safe I'd let my kids go down to the park and play. When I finally saw our neighborhood in the daylight I was happy - it wasn't a scary street at all. It was lovely and safe.

We went to Target the first day - it's a big store that has everything. Kind of like the Warehouse, but A LOT better. I noticed some things in Target that you will never see in an Auckland store (see shovel photo). We also went to Burlington Coat Factory. OH MY GOD. This place has every high flying label you could think of at MAJOR discount prices. Hugo boss 320mls - $30! Deisel Jeans for $15! 90% all Ralph Lauren stock. UNBELIEVABLE. UNBELIEVABLE. UNBELIEVABLE. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. YOU CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

We then went to this very small mall (in Amerian standards) and it was amazing. It had every store, but even though the mall was fantastic the shoe stores still did not have my size. Shock horror. But, do admit it's the holiday season here and there were no shoes left. But it was dissapointing.

It snows here! It snows a lot here. It snows a hell of a lot here. And yes, you guessed it....it's cold. There was a major snow fall the 3rd day I was here. I noticed the snow falling - I didn't think it would look like that. It falls like rain but slowly. It's lovely, until it hits the ground and turns to sludge on the road. I have yet to make a snowman, but it is on the top my priority list, just behind getting a job.

We have squirrels in our lovely back yard and they are so cute! They come to my back door every day and they eat the pumpkin seeds I leave out at night for them. They love me now and i've started to call them Digger and Anikan.... just joking. They have rabies and i'm not allowed to touch them.

Papa John's Pizza. I ordered a pizza with Merin the other night and it was massive (AND I MEAN REALLY MASSIVE - like 3 times the size of our large pizzas...it was beautiful) kaaapaaaaaiiiiiikaaaaaaaaaaiiiii. I wanted to eat the whole thing, but Merin reminded me that we needed to eat lunch the next day too. All the food here is marvelous, unlike others have told me in the past. We went to an Italian food chain called Vinny T's. I ordered lasagna and it was HUGE... and need I say, BEAUTIFUL. The best thing about eating it was listening to Dean Martin in the background. Waitresses buzz me out. They acutally SERVE you! But the bad thing is that you have to pay for the service (20% of the meal price).

People also dress differently here. For example, women look good all the time. Even average women because they don't wear holy pants and diti t-shirts. They also wear lots of make up in the gym (which baffles me). Boys..... if you go to a gym in America, expect to see FIT women, not overweight women. People to come to the gym are actually fit and there to work out (not to muck around and socialize). I have been at the gym for 2 days now and Merin is kicking my ass into shape. Here's the kicker. There is no excuse in America to be overweight (which shocks me really - considering they're the heaviest country in the world) because gym memberships are only $10/month. Now you do the math.

It is now New Year's eve (which you've all already had - and you're probably nursing a MASSIVE hangover), so I will now sign off e-mail #1 and e-mail #2 will follow shortly. Or longly. All the best. Over and out. Enjoy the photos I've attached.

Your Son, Brother, Cousin, Nephew

Mikes Travel Email #3

Hello guys ,

Ok I thought I had been experiencing cold weather up till this week. It has dropped to 11 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is -11 DEGREES CELSIUS!. I was out and about in Portland today and my ears felt like they were about to fall off. So I went into a shop to buy a hat and the sales guy told me they were having a 40% off sale on Friday so I decided to hack the cold until then.

It really is a beautiful sight here when it snows. The houses and streets are covered in a white blanket of snow and it all looks so pictures. Something I have learned is even though its snowing it doesn't actually have to be cold at ground level . When I first got here and it snowed the temperature outside was very mild and the snow just melted away. Now that its colder the snow stays on the ground and forms an icy covering so when you walk on it, it crunches under foot and of course it stays on the ground because of the cooler temperatures. The way they make sure it is still safe to drive is first they plow away the snow and then drop a mix of salt and sand so that the salt picks up the moisture and drays out the roads. Once the the road has been ploughed and salted and it stops snowing you would not have even known that the snow fell on the road its so clear.

So enough about the weather. This Monday I met with the entire Jazz band for our first full rehearsal. It sounded so unbelievably good. The Upright bass ( Double Bass ) player was learning the songs by sight as we played he had never even heard any of the songs before. Watching these guys playing really is a treat, I will get some of the rehearsals on tape one day and try to get them up on You Tube. I started off a little edgy but then got into it once I had warmed into it a little more.So the band is sounding fantastic and I am so happy to be involved. This week I will be writing some lyrics and then I will be getting together with Doug to put some music to them THIS IS SO FUN.

As well as meeting with the Jazz band I have started to study for my Personal Training Certificate. The study is difficult but rewarding at the same time. I am working through all of the different body parts and bones at the moment. The Certificate is NASM and is one of the top two PT Certs you can have in the U.S.A.Its keeping my brain working while I am waiting for my work permit to process.

Today I went for my first swim in the U.S.A. About a week ago I went for a interview with the aquatics manager of the YMCA Terry. She was very happy with our interview and gave me a tour of the complex. At the end of the interview she let me know that as soon as my work permit was processed to come back to see her about working possibly with adult learn to swim , life guarding or an assistant coaching role if one becomes available. There is also a very good chance that I might be able to start a Masters training squad but that is in the future. I was pleased to learn that the YMCA would pay for the certification I would need to work with them , Red cross ( First Aide ) and the YMCA learn to swim program. If it all works out and I am employed by the YMCA it means I could work there part time and work another job to make up the hours and gig with the band in the evenings. The way I see it is I am learning and it can lead to future coaching jobs so its a massive positive at this time.So when I left the interview I asked if I could come in for a swim and Terry told me to email her and she would give me a pass when I wanted to come in.My first swim in the U.S.A, its a very nice pool , small but very nice the water temp is perfect for training. It being 25 yards it was messing up my turns, I worked it out because 25 yards is only 23.8 meters so I was expecting to swim for another two meters in my mind so I had to really watch the wall every time. I swum for 2000 yards then did 500 yards kick. It was a really good work out , as I'm writing this I'm totally drained.I guess that's what you get for not swimming for 4 weeks lol.

The temperature is dropping and I am so fortunate that I am not a homeless person here. The homeless people here are just hacking it out in the cold. Most of them just stand on the street corner or at intersections holding a sign. I don't know how they can do it I was out for about 15 minutes in the cold today and I was headache and tired. Oh well I guess they are hard men.

Merin has been wonderful through all of this. Shes working hard and showing me around the place. Helping me with things I am such a lucky guy. I think shes my angel ; )

Oh before I sign off , Ok so I have just finished my swim I walked up to the starbucks to warm up a little before catching the bus. I am sitting down and on comes Katchafire "Gotta get away" It was so refreshing , Here I am in Portland Maine and Katchafire is playing at the city starbucks , Bloody Beautiful ;)

So there you have it a little bit of news from the North , I really am up north , just a little further than Doubtless bay.

Here are my contact details if you need to reach me :

Mike Babich
89 Avalon Rd
Portland, ME
04103
U.S.A

Cell : 001 207 408 460

I love you all so much ,

-Mike

Mikes Travels Email #2

Hello everyone ,

I have been in the USA for 2 weeks now. Life is great and everything is finally starting to settle down into normality. Merin has started back at work after taking a 2 week holiday to be with me and show me around Portland and my real hunt for employment has started.

I have applied for a work visa and thankfully it will be processed in 6 weeks , the only problem with that i that I have to now find employers that are willing to take me on as an under the table worker untill my visa comes through. Its a little bit of a worry especially since illegal workers in the USA is a big topic on the news right now, its mostly aimed at Mexicans but its still going to be difficult. Once I can seriously look for teaching positions before that I will have to scrounge for what ever I can.

This weekend past Merin and I went for a drive up to Vermont to visit her step father Jay and step sister Beth and her family . It was a really great trip I got to meet a few of Merins family and saw a few of the places where Merin grew up it was a fantastic weekend. The place we were staying in Vermont was called Middlebury its way up in the mountains and survives by the students that attend the university.Jay ( Merins Step Father) showed us around the campus and told me that for one years tuition at the school it was $40,000 USD totally unbelievable. The athletic department at this college had three stadiums that were better than anything we have in New Zealand for all the sports they housed. The swimming pool and dive pool were beautiful . When I was there it was set up as a 20 lane 25 meter pool with a bulk head in the middle, just fantastic and the stadium around it was just wonderful full seating on sides and ends. We walked out of the swimming pool complex and literally across the lobby was the entrance for the Ice Hockey Rink I have never seen such a beautiful complex just astounding. The Football ( Gridiron Field ) was equally impressive. It sure would be nice to send your children to a college that had those type of facility's. The thing that shocked and impressed me was that even though they have such a fine tuned athletic department this school DOES NOT give out sports scholarships and are not allowed to because they are a level 2 school ( levels are established by the size of the school ) , only level one schools such as Stanford and Harvard can give out sports scholarship. The only scholarship you can go to Middleburry on is an academic one.
I was able to sample some quality maple syrup and Jeremy Beth's husband invited me to come back up and gather maple syrup when I had time as well as invited me to come help out on the dairy farm. I was pleased with the invite and I would love to give it a try some day.

On Monday I went in search of a barbershop group. It was really good fun. The chorus are called the Downeasters and the members were warm and welcoming. It was my first visit there and already I have a buddy to work on songs with and have had a welcoming to the group it was truly a great feeling being welcomed into the group. There are about 30 members and they range in age from 40 - 60 some may be older. Just my luck I have entered the chorus just before a concert and if I am to participate I should know 8 tunes in about 3 weeks so I really have my work cut out for me.

I have also been "hired" as the lead singer in a Jazz band. I have met Doug , of the "Doug Emery Band" and have practiced with him twice. Its a really cool kind of music I guess you might call it a jazz rock fusion band, with a lot of Coltrane influence.The stuff we are sining has a kind of a Doctor Hook feel to it. Its really cool singing in a different style and with someone who is so wonderfully skilled on the guitar. The one thing I am not quite used to is improv , Its kinda skat "diddly diddly diddly doo" stuff I'm getting better at it but will have to improve on it. Doug has the plan that in the next 3-4 weeks that we will be able to get together as a four piece , Myself on vocals, Doug on Guitar and a Bassist and Percussion, to record a c.d to promote our sound to the club owners, from there who know what will happen , we could be performing in front of 3 people or 300 people it really does depend on how the people like our sound, I'm really excited about just getting up on stage in the USA, lucky for me I have found a set of skilled musicians to learn from.

So that's about it for now , No more news but I will keep you posted, I love you all so much I hope 2007 is starting out well for you where ever you are ...

With Love

Micheal Babich